Spieß
German
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle High German spiez (“pike”), from Old High German spioz, from Proto-West Germanic *speut (“spear”). Cognate with Middle Dutch spiet, Old Saxon spiot.
Merged semantically with Middle High German spiz (“spit”), from Old High German spiz, from Proto-Germanic *spituz. Cognate with Dutch spit, English spit, Swedish spett. Etymological relation between the two merged words is possible, but uncertain.
Noun
[edit]Spieß m (strong, genitive Spießes, plural Spieße, diminutive Spießchen n)
- a pointed rod, especially
- spit
- Hyponyms: Bratspieß, Drehspieß, Fleischspieß
- Heute Abend grillen wir Krabben am Spieß.
- Tonight we’ll grill crabs on the spit.
- pike
- Hypernyms: Jagdwaffe, Stichwaffe, Stoßwaffe, Waffe
- Coordinate terms: Forke, Lanze, Speer, Harpune, Hellebarde
- Hyponyms: Langspieß, Pike, Saufeder, Wurfspieß
- Er griff sich einen Zaunpfahl und verwendete ihn als Spieß.
- He grabbed himself a fence post and used it as a pike.
- Luther Bible, Jesaja 2:4
- Da werden sie ihre Schwerter zu Pflugscharen und ihre Spieße zu Sicheln machen.
- and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.
- spit
- (chess, figuratively) skewer (tactic in the game of chess)
- Hypernym: Schachtaktik
- Durch einen Spieß setzte er den gegnerischen König ins Schach.
- With a skewer he put the opponent’s king in check.
Declension
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Etymology 2
[edit]Ultimately from the word for “pike” in etymology 1 (Middle High German spiez). The use of this simplex for a pikeman is attested since the 14th century. Later on, non-commissioned officers often had the task of discouraging and, if necessary, killing deserters during battle, for which they used pikes. The contemporary use (ca. 1900) after the sergeant’s epee.
Noun
[edit]Spieß m (strong, genitive Spießes, plural Spieße)
- (Germany, military) an appointment usually held by a Stabsfeldwebel or Oberstabsfeldwebel (OR-8/9), roughly equivalent to company sergeant major in the British Army and comparable to first sergeant in the U.S. Army
- Synonyms: Kompaniefeldwebel, (humorous) Mutter der Kompanie, (historic, now a rank) Hauptfeldwebel
- Hypernym: Dienstposten
- Hyponyms: (artillery, air defense) Batteriefeldwebel, (schools) Inspektionsfeldwebel, (flying personnel) Staffelfeldwebel, (marine) Wachtmeister
- Der Spieß ist Unteroffizier in einer Kompanie auf einem herausgehobenen Dienstposten.
- The Spieß is non-commissioned officer in a company in an important post.
- 1972, Heinrich Böll, Wo warst du, Adam?, page 31:
- »Der Befehl ist erst heute morgen gekommen, vor einer Stunde«, sagte der Spieß.
- “The order arrived only this morning, an hour ago”, said the Spieß.
Declension
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “Spieß” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Spieß” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- “Spieß” in Duden online
Spieß on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- Rhymes:German/iːs
- Rhymes:German/iːs/1 syllable
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *spewd-
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German masculine nouns
- German terms with usage examples
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- de:Chess
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